Friday, July 1, 2011

MY SWISS MÉMÉ'S CAKE - THE RAMBLING EPICURE

What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies.- Rudolph Giuliani

Each of us had (or still has) a grandmother that holds a special place in our heart. Most people can speak about their grannies with much love and tenderness as it is impossible not to cherish someone who gave (gives) unconditional love, spoiled (spoils) them with gifts, was (is) a supportive figure in their life and had (has) a big influence on them.

Grandmothers are no less important than our mother as they are the pillar of the family and the beholders of a certain heritage. We will always remember those beautiful bonding moments we shared with them while attentively listening to them tell stories about the past, our parents' childhood, their misfortunes and youth or while baking cakes, preparing meals together and spending our holidays at their place. Those are valuable memories and indelible happy instants that we will never forget. As a matter of fact, we will certainly still continue talking about them when we reach a certain age ourselves.

"Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting."- Author UnknownSome people had doting grandmothers who were not afraid of showing their affection, whereas others had indifferent and teacher-like grandmothers. Unfortunately, even if mine were far from being unkind, they weren't either very close to their grandchildren. I can't recall seeing them go completely ga-ga over me and my sister. They just treated us with the same deference with which they handled non-family members, but we never got a special treatment or extra kisses and hugs.

Anyway, for somebody like me who is particularly attached the the culinary aspect of things and who was not blessed with the most demonstrative of grandmothers, you won't be surprised if I tell you that what I especially treasure are the times I spent watching my English Nana and Swiss Mémé busily bustling around the stove.I might not have been shown how to prepare many recipes with my grandmas (as a matter of fact none of them passed any of their recipes on to me), but looking at them cook has made me learn a lot and develop a passion for creating meals from scratch with natural ingredients and for eating in a responsible way. They have helped me become the seasoned home "chef" that I am now and I am very thankful that they have enlightened me with their knowledge, which has been passed on from generation to generation.

I am so proud and happy to be in possession of certain of their kitchen "secrets" hailing from a revolved era and to have been able to witness a way of living that nearly no longer exists. As I owe them a lot, I decided to rightfully commemorate those two unique beings by writing articles about both of them and spreading their gastronomic heritage as much as possible so that others can profit from it as it would be too sad to be greedy and keep it all for myself...

"In our modern world, most women choose or have to work, and countless couples don’t have the time or energy to become kitchen bees. Many people prefer buying prepackaged food and don’t see any point in spending their free time preparing homemade snacks. The majority of 21st-century grandmothers hail from a generation of females who cut themselves off from old traditions..."- Excerpt by me & taken from my latest article on The Rambling EpicureSo, if you are interested in reading more about my Swiss grandmother and discovering her recipe for a simple, yet versatile sheet cake named "Galette Du Pont", then please visit the The Rambling Epicure, a daily international food chronicle and online newspaper for which I am a freelance writer and ponder on the meaning as well as significance of food in everyday life.There you'll find my latest article "My Swiss Grandmother’s Cooking: The Deep Roots, Bonds and Nostalgia of Food" which I hope you'll enjoy...

One of my garndmother's is still alive but far away.I hold the fondest memory from the time I spend with both of my nana's.Realy being on food blogs reminds me of them (like your blog) almost daily of the fantastic food they use to make and some of those dishes are still my favourites and some of the smells in the kitchen is like their breath..rich is everyone that has that pleasure to have grandparents.Thank you for sahring:)

Your observations and quotes on the importance of grandmothers resonated with me as my "teta" was an all-important pillar of our household and passed on to me the fundamentals of Lebanese traditions in the kitchen. She used to make a simple cake such as this one too, and these are the cakes I love best to this day.

Completely agree about the hand-me-down grandma recipes, the ones I possess hold such a special place in my heart. My first blog post was a simple one my gran taught me as a little person, and my favourite cookie recipe ever is one of hers too, i spose for nostalgia just as much as taste :) This was a lovely post and it looks like a gorgeous recipe too, thank you for sharing

Beautiful sentiments;-)I am now a grandmother and nothing gives me more pleasure than time spent with my grandchildren, they are the best:-)Your cake looks just perfect to me, this would be the perfect recipe to make for your grandchildren, thanks for sharing;-)

I have one mère still living and she reminds me of yours, my other was exactly the opposite but passed when I was 10. They of course both had quite the passion for food as most French do :)I will check out your article...

Rosa this brought tears to my eyes. I didn't know my Grandmother well but I play a huge part in my Grand children's lives. I hope their memories of me will be as fond as the ones you paint.Your cake looks delicious.x

I am determined to be so different from my children's grandmothers. One is gossipy and brings out the negative aspects of everyone and well, unfortunately, the other is quite similar. They both, however, have so much offer, and we try hard to steer them in a positive more healthy direction. I completely understand what you are saying in your post. Like you, I do capture the recipes and favorites that I have seen made. Because by doing, that you are carrying on the goodness of traditions and leaving out the unhealthy bits. I'm sure there are many traditions that have many of the same multi-layered negative and positive dimensions.

What a great post, I have still have one of my grand mother (but no more my mother) so that kind of recipe are the last link to my mother and things that I try to preserve from my grand mother.Thank for sharing this family recipe with usBises

You are a great writer, Rosa (among so many things!)My grandma was a great cook, but what I remember the most are the huge sandwiches (Jamon ibérico..she was Spanish!) with butter..I was a picky eater when a small girl, so she thought she had to supplement my very light lunches with huge sandwiches for tea time..I ADORED that...and the fact she was spoiling me!! That's what grandmothers are for!!

Rosa, isn't it funny that my latest article on Rambling Epicure is about a recipe I inherited from my dad, from whom I surely picked up my own passion for baking. I only knew one of my grandmothers and she was no baker so the little you picked up must be so special. Gorgeous, perfect tea time cake.

A perfect piece of cake, Rosa! In every way.I had one grandma who owned a bakery when she was younger...so you can imagine what came out of our kitchen when she visited us. Then I had an aunt who lived across the street. She was the neighborhood baker and taught me a lot.Great memories.

Rosa,Too true that we glean things from our ancestors that haven't even been directly taught to us. I really enjoyed your story of your grandmothers' cooking influence on your life. Gorgeous photos too!-E

Rosa, I just love that even though you say you were not really close to either of your grandmothers that you remember the best you can about your relationship with both of them. That is truly beautiful and enlightened!

Rosa,Amazing post and beautifully written! I'm touched, I can see the passion you have for food and photography. I know that anything you touch you will succeed, because comes from your heart and you are original.

I like the words "Kitchen Bees", very creative expression, it's definitely how we look inside the kitchen, when we are preparing a meal!

Rosa, my grandma was a great cook, but not a baker. Yet, I have many wonderful memories of her. And, although it will be a while before I have grandchildren, I do hope my (future) grands will remember me as fondly as you remember your Swiss grandmother.